The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions is the official document that describes in detail the process of preparing and maintaining Cochrane systematic reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions.

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Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

There is a growing recognition of the value of synthesising qualitative research in the evidence base in order to facilitate effective and appropriate health care. In response to this, methods for undertaking these syntheses are currently being developed. Thematic analysis is a method that is often used to analyse data in primary qualitative research. This paper reports on the use of this type of analysis in systematic reviews to bring together and integrate the findings of multiple qualitative studies. We describe thematic synthesis, outline several steps for its conduct and illustrate the process and outcome of this approach using a completed review of health promotion research. Thematic synthesis has three stages: the coding of text 'line-by-line'; the development of 'descriptive themes'; and the generation of 'analytical themes'. While the development of descriptive themes remains 'close' to the primary studies, the analytical themes represent a stage of interpretation whereby the reviewers 'go beyond' the primary studies and generate new interpretive constructs, explanations or hypotheses. The use of computer software can facilitate this method of synthesis; detailed guidance is given on how this can be achieved. We used thematic synthesis to combine the studies of children's views and identified key themes to explore in the intervention studies. Most interventions were based in school and often combined learning about health benefits with 'hands-on' experience. The studies of children's views suggested that fruit and vegetables should be treated in different ways, and that messages should not focus on health warnings. Interventions that were in line with these suggestions tended to be more effective. Thematic synthesis enabled us to stay 'close' to the results of the primary studies, synthesising them in a transparent way, and facilitating the explicit production of new concepts and hypotheses. We compare thematic synthesis to other methods for the synthesis of qualitative research, discussing issues of context and rigour. Thematic synthesis is presented as a tried and tested method that preserves an explicit and transparent link between conclusions and the text of primary studies; as such it preserves principles that have traditionally been important to systematic reviewing.

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Methods for the thematic synthesis of qualitative research in systematic reviews

The Social Psychology of Organizations.

The syntheses of multiple qualitative studies can pull together data across different contexts, generate new theoretical or conceptual models, identify research gaps, and provide evidence for the development, implementation and evaluation of health interventions This study aims to develop a framework for reporting the synthesis of qualitative health research We conducted a comprehensive search for guidance and reviews relevant to the synthesis of qualitative research, methodology papers, and published syntheses of qualitative health research in MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL and relevant organisational websites to May 2011 Initial items were generated inductively from guides to synthesizing qualitative health research The preliminary checklist was piloted against forty published syntheses of qualitative research, purposively selected to capture a range of year of publication, methods and methodologies, and health topics We removed items that were duplicated, impractical to assess, and rephrased items for clarity The Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) statement consists of 21 items grouped into five main domains: introduction, methods and methodology, literature search and selection, appraisal, and synthesis of findings The ENTREQ statement can help researchers to report the stages most commonly associated with the synthesis of qualitative health research: searching and selecting qualitative research, quality appraisal, and methods for synthesising qualitative findings The synthesis of qualitative research is an expanding and evolving methodological area and we would value feedback from all stakeholders for the continued development and extension of the ENTREQ statement

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Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research: ENTREQ

Riedel DJ, Gonzalez-Cuyar LF, Zhao XF, Redfi eld RR, Gilliam BL. Plasmablastic lymphoma of the oral cavity: a rapidly progressive lymphoma associated with HIV infection. Lancet Infect Dis 2008; 8: 261–67. In this Grand Round, the references for the sentence “Occasionally, CD138-negative plasmablastic lymphoma cases (such as this case) have been reported” (page 265) should be 32, 34, and 38. Book Systematic reviews: CRD’s guidance for undertaking reviews in health care

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Systematic reviews: CRD's guidance for undertaking reviews in health care

Conventional systematic review techniques have limitations when the aim of a review is to construct a critical analysis of a complex body of literature This article offers a reflexive account of an attempt to conduct an interpretive review of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups in the UK This project involved the development and use of the method of Critical Interpretive Synthesis (CIS) This approach is sensitised to the processes of conventional systematic review methodology and draws on recent advances in methods for interpretive synthesis Many analyses of equity of access have rested on measures of utilisation of health services, but these are problematic both methodologically and conceptually A more useful means of understanding access is offered by the synthetic construct of candidacy Candidacy describes how people's eligibility for healthcare is determined between themselves and health services It is a continually negotiated property of individuals, subject to multiple influences arising both from people and their social contexts and from macro-level influences on allocation of resources and configuration of services Health services are continually constituting and seeking to define the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention, while at the same time people are engaged in constituting and defining what they understand to be the appropriate objects of medical attention and intervention Access represents a dynamic interplay between these simultaneous, iterative and mutually reinforcing processes By attending to how vulnerabilities arise in relation to candidacy, the phenomenon of access can be better understood, and more appropriate recommendations made for policy, practice and future research By innovating with existing methods for interpretive synthesis, it was possible to produce not only new methods for conducting what we have termed critical interpretive synthesis, but also a new theoretical conceptualisation of access to healthcare This theoretical account of access is distinct from models already extant in the literature, and is the result of combining diverse constructs and evidence into a coherent whole Both the method and the model should be evaluated in other contexts

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Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups

This article examines the concept of distributed leadership, drawing from a systematic review of relevant literature commissioned by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) and jointly funded by NCSL and the Open University’s Centre for Educational Policy, Leadership and Lifelong Learning (CEPoLL). The concept attracts a range of meanings and is associated with a variety of practices, with varying implications for organizational processes and values. The article highlights key variables that emerged from the literature review. It then elaborates one of the emergent themes—the distinction between structure and agency—and seeks to utilize this further as a means of illuminating the concept and practice of distributed leadership. In conclusion, areas for future research are identified.

Variabilities and Dualities in Distributed Leadership: Findings from a Systematic Literature Review

A review of empirical research studies of distributed leadership from public and private sector settings completed since 1995.

Distributed Leadership: A Review of Literature

States that the concept of marketing is regarded with suspicion by many in education because of its commercial implications. Marketing is seen as a potential tool for the application of market forces and is therefore regarded as ethically undesirable. Argues that the methods and ideology of commercial marketing, if properly understood and correctly applied by professionals in education, can be beneficial rather than harmful, and may be imperative for schools and colleges wishing to attract students and to offer them the most relevant provision.

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Marketing schools and consumer choice

This paper explores the determinants of performance of research groups in the context of the emergence of knowledge as a key intangible asset. It focuses specifically on how best to configure knowledge producers for optimal effectiveness in the current research environment. It explores the under-researched area of the organization and management of research groups located in and at the interface of university research and focuses on medical and medical-related research groups. The discussion is embedded within the current debate concerning modes of organization in knowledge production. Factors identified with high-achievement are: strong leadership; finding, motivating and retaining talent; strategies of related diversification; strongly linked theory and practice and, in particular, network connectedness. Such groups exhibit an increasingly complex internal environment, facilitating a flexible response to an increasingly complex external environment. It finds evidence of Mode 2 working, with increasing use of collaborative strategies and some evidence of a thematic emphasis emerging, although to a lesser extent than the literature suggests, since participants are still working from a strongly disciplinary base. Driven by the more competitive environment, both intellectual and commercial forms of entrepreneurship are present. At the hub of this complex web of inter-related factors is network connectedness, which proves to be centrally facilitative in mobilizing the other necessary resources.

Janet Harvey

Papers

Conducting a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature on access to healthcare by vulnerable groups

Variabilities and Dualities in Distributed Leadership: Findings from a Systematic Literature Review

Distributed Leadership: A Review of Literature

Marketing schools and consumer choice

The determinants of research group performance.